Singing in the Lab
by Cheerfully Cynical
Summary: "What you need is some jazz." And, maybe, some lyrics to go along with it. More specifically, someone singing to those lyrics.


**A/N: **Hello Fringe fandom! So, it's been about a year ish since I did a re-watch of this wonderful show, so please excuse any wrong events or places. It's hard remembering the little details, and I'm not going to watch every episode again to get them. When google can't find your answer, you know you're never going to find it.

**Setting/Episode: **if you haven't guessed it by now, it's _The Ghost Network_ (Season 1 episode 3) where Peter begins to play some jazz for Olivia after a long case. This was such a great scene, but it could have been way more emotional if it was made somewhere in season two, where Peter and Olivia's relationship is more defined. **So, this is set somewhere late season two, before Peter left. **

Well, I wanted to add a little more to this scene, and, well, I hope it's in character. I always hoped that Olivia had some sort of gift besides cortexaphan.

**Summary:** "What you need is some jazz." And, maybe, some lyrics to go along with it. More specifically, someone singing to those lyrics.

**Rating:** K+. Just some cute things with Peter and Olivia.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Terribly saddened by this.

_**Link to song: **_ www .youtube watch ?v=YF EB9x LeLmY R emove spacing. The song, if link is not working, is _**Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn**_

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"No, no." Peter laughed. "What you need is some jazz."

"Jazz?" Olivia repeated, looking skeptical.

"Yes, jazz. What? Were you not taught jazz in FBI Academy?"

"Well," Olivia said, a bit mischief in her eyes. "I was taught _music." _

"Really?" Peter laughed. "Is that a challenge to prove that jazz is _real _music?"

Olivia finally put down her files and went over to the piano with the rest of the crew of misfits. "I don't know. Give me something that I can actually appreciate and maybe we'll find out."

"_Ohh _a music off! How exciting!" Walter exclaimed. "Come to think of it, is there such a thing as a music off?"

"At this point, we've seen weirder things." Astrid commented, now also huddled around the piano.

Without any more distractions, Peter began to play. Instantly, Olivia perked up. Not only was he skilled, but the notes were a tune that she actually knew.

"That's not jazz," Olivia said instantly. "That's more of the soft rock era."

Still playing, he answered, "Eh, sue me. I felt we needed an uplifting song."

"But we don't have anyone to sing it!" Walter said, looking like a sad child. "What's the use of music off if we don't have singer!"

Peter, also knowing this, continued playing the same two cords that started the song.

"Go up an octave." Olivia said, not liking how low the notes were.

"And ruin a classic song? Peter said, "No way."

Before Olivia could rethink what she going to do, she attempted to fix what the notes were supposed to be for a tenor, and _sang. _

"_Put on my blue swede shoes _

_And I boarded the plane"_

Her voice, though slightly ruff from not being used in a long time, was alto smooth, though it was hard to go so low.

Incredibly surprised, Peter actually missed his cue for his right hand and fumbled with the notes so bad that he had to stop.

"What was _that?" _He exclaimed, turning around to look at her. She felt a hot blush crawl up from her neck to her face.

"I-"

"Nope," He interrupted, turning back around to the piano. "No getting cold feet now, Dunham. We're trying that again, in the _correct _octave."

If anything, she blushed harder. But she was determined now that she could do this and not sound like a dying toad.

Peter began to play. Without thinking again, she opened her mouth to sing in her correct range.

"_Put on my blue swede shoes _

_And I boarded the plane"_

She was shaking from her nerves, but it sounded okay.

Walter smiled, and Astrid let out a laugh. Olivia couldn't see Peter's reaction.

"_Touched down in the land of delta blues_

_In the middle of the pouring rain" _

Gaining courage, the notes came easy, and she remembered how to breathe correctly before each sentence.

"_W.C. Handy_

_Won't you look down over me_

_Yeah, I got a first class ticket_

_But I'm as blue as a _girl_ can be"_

She walked over to Peter and sat down on the bench, watching as his hands slid gracefully along the piano keys.

"_Then I'm walking in Memphis" _Olivia stopped. Peter had joined in as soon as the chorus began, melting into a perfect rendition of a tenor. His voice transformed into velvet, singing the notes with ease. He, however, didn't pause in his playing.

Walter began to stomp his foot to the music, all the while chuckling happily to himself.

"_I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale" _Peter still sang, though he chuckled lightly at her raised eyebrows.

Astrid gave Olivia a smile.

"_Walking in Memphis" _They both continued, Olivia changing her pitch slightly to match his. It developed into a duet that made both Olivia and Peter shiver.

"_But do _you_ really feel the way I feel?" _Olivia blushed at his intense stare.

"_I saw the ghost of Elvis" _Peter stopped singing, letting her take the lead again. She watched his hands again, noting the slight termer as he continued.

"_on Union Avenue_

_Followed him up to the gates of Graceland"_

Olivia's eyes watered, remembering her time with Rachel, screaming the words to song before their mother was diagnosed with cancer. It was their father's favorite.

"_Then I watched him walk right through"_

Her voice went into a low whisper, the emotion in her voice overwhelming. Too many memories were in this song.

"_Now, security did not see him" _Peter began to sing again, noticing her mood. Olivia looked up at his face, but he was focused on the piano keys.

"_They just hovered round his tomb_

_But there's a pretty little thing_

_Waiting for the King_

_And _she's _down in the jungle room"_

Peter couldn't help but look up at her. Her smile was infectious.

"_When I was walking in Memphis" _Olivia sang again, her voice once again matching Peter's. He looked up at her, giving her a light smile that made her heart skip a beat.

"_I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale_

_Walking in Memphis_

_But do I really feel the way I feel?"_

"Dance with me, Asteroid!" Walter exclaimed, taking the chance in the pause in singing to take Astrid by the hand and twirl her. Astrid giggle, squeaking a surprised "Walter!" before going along with it. Olivia smiled.

Olivia pushed him lightly, indicating that she wanted play. Once again, he looked surprised, but she easily took the chords back up in less than a second. This gave him a chance to really look at her.

She was almost dancing. The way she moved for each key stroke was memorizing, and her voice gave him a feeling he couldn't even begin to describe.

"_Now, they've got catfish on the table"_

"My favorite part." Peter whispered to here in the pause of music. Olivia nodded, agreeing with him.

_They've got gospel in the air"_ Olivia and Peter sang together again, her high alto voice sending chills through the two (somewhat clumsy) dancers in the room. Peter's low, husky voice brought goose bumps on Olivia's arms, but she continued, never wanting the song to end.

"_And Reverend Green, be glad to see you_

_When you haven't got a prayer" _Her falsetto was beautiful. She let the note hang in the air, allowing it to echo around the room.

Peter had to resist the urge to wrap his arms around her.

"_But boy you got a prayer in Memphis"_ She sang alone.

Peter stopped. He wanted to hear her sing this part; to watch her body.

"_Now, _Peter_ plays piano" _She teased, changing the lyrics slightly. Peter laughed with her.

"_Every Friday at the Hollywood_

_And they brought me down to see _him"

She recalled the day she asked him to come back with her to Boston. Wow, had things changed.

"_And they asked me if I would_

_Do a little number"_

She did a little shimmy on her bench. Astrid's smile became wider as she did another twirl with Walter, completely off beat to the song. None of them cared.

_And I sang with all my might_

he _said,_

_"Tell me are you a Christian, child?" _He alone sang this part

_And I said, "_Sir_, I am tonight!" _Astrid let out a "_woo_" At her rocking vibrato.

"_Walking in Memphis" _

Peter stole back the piano with a light shove to her arm. He wanted her full focus on the song. No, not on the song, he realized, but with him. He wanted to wrap himself in this moment.

"_I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale_

_Walking in Memphis_

_But do I really feel the way I feel?"_

At this point, Walter was also singing, his not too bad sounding voice was incredibly funny to Astrid, who was holding her sides in an attempt to stay quiet.

Peter was watching Olivia sway to the music, singing her heart out.

"_Walking in Memphis_

_I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale_

_Walking in Memphis_

_But do _**you**_ really feel the way I feel?"_ She sang to him only now, and he couldn't help but feel overjoyed about this.

The music slowed down. Peter stopped singing, letting her voice end the song in a way that he couldn't.

"_Put on my blue suede shoes and I_

_Boarded the plane_

_Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues_

_In the middle of the pouring rain"_

Walter had stopped dancing and singing, and was now leaning on the piano with Astrid. Olivia had walked back to the bench with Peter, and, shocking him, laid her head down on his shoulder.

"_Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues_

_In the middle of the pouring… rain"_

Peter continued playing. On the final note, he let it hang.

"Who knew." He said eventually to the silence in the room. He didn't dare move his shoulder. He didn't want Olivia to move. "Olivia Dunham – savior of the universe – has the voice of an angel."

She lightly smacked his arm. "It's not like anyone asked."

He laughed. "So you kept it from us!"

"Imagine," She mockingly said in his tone of voice. "Peter Bishop – con man of the century – has the voice of god."

"Oh, _please, _sing another song, agent Dunham!" Walter asked, "This is so much fun."

Olivia looked longingly at the files on the piano. "Sorry, Walter, I have some paperwork to do." She got up to grab them, but Peter quickly took her hand and _spun _her back to the bench.

"Nope!" He said, cheerfully, "Tonight, you've got a date with a piano."

She paused to think about it. The room held their breaths.

"I think I can handle that."

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**A/N:** I'm sorry, I know this song is from 1991, but I thought it would fit perfectly, and I'm currently obsessed with the song. I picked this song because I could just see Olivia's father singing this to his girls. I know we know nothing about him, but I thought this would be the kind of music Olivia listened to, so so would her father.

Reviews are lovely, but just reading this always means the world to me : ) thank you!


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